The first thing I asked Dr Lysimachos Zografos when we met was: “Are you crazy?”

Understand that I did not mean the question in a negative or offensive manner. I asked it in the same way people ask if Elon Musk is crazy for starting a company with the goal of ‘colonising Mars’.

In 2014, Lysimachos left a nice job in academic research to start a small biotech firm that would use flies to screen for drugsthat could be used to treat Parkinson’s disease. An interesting idea, right? But a rather incredible undertaking when you consider the enormous resources of the competition: big pharmaceutical companies. No matter which way you look at this, it has the makings of a real David versus Goliath story.

But also understand this: when I asked him that question, there was a strong element of jealousy in my voice.

Incorporated in October 2014, this University of Edinburgh spin-out company has already had an interesting story. Here at the SoPD, we have been following their activities with interest for some time, and decided to write this post to make readers aware of them.